The historic clock at the corner of Adams and Laura streets in Downtown Jacksonville is once again displaying the correct time.
Tina Sauvage, owner and operator of Jax Tours, noticed the clock was not working during one of her walking tours Downtown.
“The hands had stopped, the chimes were dormant and yet it stood there, a silent witness to our city’s past, just waiting to be brought back to life,” Sauvage said.
The Verdin Co. from Cincinnati repaired the 15-foot-tall timepiece July 11, a project financed by Jacksonville-based JWB Real Estate Capital. JWB owns the Greenleaf & Crosby Building, now called The Greenleaf, where the clock stands on the sidewalk near the building’s southeast corner.
JWB President Alex Sifakis declined to disclose the budget for the repair but said the cost was not prohibitive.
“We are going to do the regular maintenance on it to keep it running. We think the clock is important because it is a unique piece of Jacksonville history and creates a sense of place for that corner of Laura Street,” Sifakis said.
Sauvage described the repair as JWB’s “gift to the city,” saying, “I think it’s a powerful example of how local businesses can help shape Jacksonville’s future by honoring its past.”
The clock’s history stretches back 120 years.
Damon Greenleaf moved to Jacksonville from New York City and then established a jewelry store on Bay Street two years after the Civil War ended.
He was joined in 1890 by J.H. Crosby and the company became known as Greenleaf & Crosby.
The ornate, four-dialed timepiece was manufactured by the Seth Thomas Clock Co. in Connecticut.
It was placed along Bay Street when the store was rebuilt after the Great Fire of 1901. It was meant to be a symbol of Jacksonville’s resiliency and rebirth despite most of the city burning to the ground.
The clock was moved to its current location when the store relocated in 1927, when the Greenleaf & Crosby Building opened at the northwest corner of Adams and Laura streets.
In 1930, Greenleaf and Crosby sold the store’s fixtures to V.E. Jacobs. Roy and Delorise Thomas bought the business and the 15-foot-tall clock in 1968. They retired and closed the store in 2023.
The clock had to be completely refurbished in 1973 after a city bus jumped the curb and struck it.
The next refurbishment was completed in 1995, the year the clock was gifted by the Thomases to the city and the people of Jacksonville.
The clock was removed in 2011 for construction of the Laura Street improvement project.
The city awarded a $51,000 contract to Verdin to restore the housing and replace the original mechanical clock with modern technology that keeps time and sets the clock electronically.
It was returned to its place in front of the building in April 2013.
JWB purchased the 12-story Greenleaf & Crosby Building for nearly $7 million in 2022. The company plans to move its headquarters into the building from 7563 Philips Highway in Deerwood Center.
The city has issued building permits for JWB to build-out four of its five targeted floors at a total cost of almost $2.53 million.
Among other plans for the building, the Oak Steakhouse intends to open on the first floor in the former Jacobs Jewelers space. Indigo Road Hospitality Group announced in November 2024 that the steakhouse will open in late 2025.